COVINGTON, Kentucky (AP) 鈥� President Joe Biden on Wednesday held out the promised makeover of a dilapidated bridge over the Ohio River as a symbol of what can happen when Republicans and Democrats work together 鈥� even as he condemned what he labeled an 鈥渆mbarrassing鈥� scene of GOP disarray back in Washington.
The Democratic president鈥檚 trip to the Brent Spence Bridge, which is getting a load of federal cash under the bipartisan infrastructure law, came as Washington was gripped by the GOP鈥檚 inability to unify behind a candidate for House speaker.
鈥淭o have a Congress that can鈥檛 function is just embarrassing," Biden said before he left Kentucky to return to Washington. "We鈥檙e the greatest nation in the world. How could that be?鈥� Earlier at the White House he said that the stalemate over who would succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker now that the Republicans control the House was 鈥渘ot my problem.鈥�
But the discord is fresh evidence that Biden鈥檚 chances of securing massive, transformational legislation have all but evaporated in a divided Washington, where the focus is set to turn to GOP investigations of the Biden administration and battles over essentials like funding the government and meeting federal debt obligations.
That has the White House and top Cabinet officials hoping to direct the country鈥檚 focus to Biden鈥檚 achievements during his first two years in office and demonstrating how the new laws directly affect Americans, while appealing to newly empowered Republicans to find additional areas of cooperation in the new Congress.
The bridge visit is part of a renewed push by Biden to highlight the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which contains $1 trillion for roads and bridges, broadband networks and water projects across America. The money will be critical not just for the communities getting the help but to the Democratic president鈥檚 political theory that voters are hungry for bipartisanship that delivers tangible results.
鈥淚 believe it sends an important message, an important message to the entire country," Biden said from a stage overlooking the soon-to-be-renovated bridge. 鈥淲e can work together. We can get things done. We can move the nation forward, but just drop a little bit of our egos and focus on what is needed in the country.鈥�
Biden was joined by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell 鈥� a frequent foil of Democrats 鈥� who greeted the president at the local airport and and rode with him in his limousine to the riverfront. McConnell was one of 19 Senate Republicans to support the infrastructure law and has said repairing the Brent Spence has long been a priority.
鈥淲e all know these are really partisan times. But I always feel that no matter who gets elected, once it鈥檚 all over, we ought to look for things that we can agree on and try to do those, even while we have big differences on other things,鈥� McConnell said in brief remarks before Biden took the stage. The GOP senator called the bridge an example of bipartisanship that the 鈥渃ountry needs to see.鈥�
Democrats' stronger-than-expected showing in the midterms allowed their party to retain even as the House fell to Republicans.
On Tuesday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the ostensible GOP pick for speaker, failed to win the required majority on three ballots 鈥� the first time in a century that a speaker hasn鈥檛 been selected on the first ballot. Members-elect returned to the chamber on Wednesday for additional balloting with no clear path to a resolution.
At the bridge, Biden made light of the House drama, quipping that a newly elected House member couldn't attend the event because 鈥渉e鈥檚 dealing with trying to figure out who鈥檚 gonna be the next speaker," before appealing for lawmakers of both parties to search for common ground in the year ahead.
鈥淎fter years of politics being so divisive, there are bright spots across the country," Biden said. 鈥淭he Brent Spence bridge is one of them. A bridge that continues and connects different centuries, different states, different political parties 鈥� a bridge to the vision of America I know we all believe in where we can work together to get things done.鈥�
The perennially congested bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio has frustrated motorists for decades. The infrastructure law will offer more than $1.63 billion in federal grants to Ohio and Kentucky to build a companion bridge that will help unclog traffic on the Brent Spence.
Other top administration officials are holding similar events Wednesday and Thursday at other major bridges in the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was stopping by the collection of bridges crossing the Calumet River in Chicago; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was appearing at the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in New London, Connecticut; and White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu was to be at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Thursday with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
All the bridges will get new funding under the infrastructure law, which is one of Biden鈥檚 marquee bipartisan accomplishments.
After his speech, Biden鈥檚 motorcade drove over the dilapidated bridge after a stop at a Cincinnati barbecue restaurant.
Landrieu told reporters on Air Force One that Biden's appearance with McConnell was 鈥渞eally important to demonstrate that these two people who have been friends for a long time and who don鈥檛 always see eye to eye have put their country first."
The Brent Spence, which carries Interstates 71 and 75 between Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, was declared functionally obsolete by the Federal Highway Administration in the 1990s. It has become an outsized symbol of the nation's crumbling infrastructure, with successive presidents from both parties singling out the aging span as they stumped for better roads and bridges.
In 2011, President Barack Obama name-checked McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, who represented the Cincinnati suburbs, as he stood near the Brent Spence and pushed the two Republican leaders to support a jobs package that would fix similarly ailing bridges. Six years later, President Donald Trump told a local Fox station that 鈥淚鈥檝e already heard about the bridge. I love the area."
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get it fixed," Trump said about the Brent Spence, which he called 鈥渄angerous.鈥�
As for Biden, he said during a 2021 CNN town hall in Cincinnati that his administration would 鈥渇ix that damn bridge of yours."
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Miller reported from Washington.
Seung Min Kim And Zeke Miller, The Associated Press
